Union think top pick Blake has room to grow

Andre Blake walks on stage Thursday after being selected by the Union with the first pick of the 2014 Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The Union’s technical director Rob Vartughian said Blake has ‘incredible upside.’ (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

PHILADELPHIA — Rob Vartughian usually keeps his cards close to the vest.

But you could excuse the Philadelphia Union’s technical director for sporting a bigger smile than most Thursday at the MLS SuperDraft.

Everyone in the Union’s camp was happy to celebrate the legwork that turned into a deal with D.C. United to move up to No. 1 overall and snag the consensus top prospect in the draft, goalkeeper Andre Blake.

The move is particularly gratifying for Vartughian, who serves as the team’s goalkeeping coach and will spend the most time working to turn the raw potential Blake brings into a finished project.

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“We’ve followed Andre’s career at UConn since he got there,” Vartughian said after the draft. “For us, when you look at this draft, without question, he is the best available prospect. He has incredible upside. We’re excited to get our hands around him and hopefully provide an environment where he can continue to develop and grow, because there is a ton of potential to grow.

“It’s hard not to look at him and see down the road what he can be, and for us, it just came down to, who’s the best available player. And we had an opportunity to get him.”

Blake has drawn rave reviews, as has the Union’s willingness to do what was necessary to get him.

Blake’s coach at the University of Connecticut, Ray Reid, called him the best goalkeeper he’s had in 25 years at the helm of a perennial soccer power. The 23-year-old was a fixture on Jamaican youth teams and has already been called into senior national team camps with the Reggae Boys. And the honor of being the first goalkeeper ever selected first in SuperDraft history speaks for itself.

“He can do stuff now that people in our league can’t do,” Union manager John Hackworth said. “He’s got a ways to go. He’s got to come in here and really earn it. But he’s the type of person that this is a great opportunity and chance for him. He wants it, and at the same time, he’s phenomenal.”

Among a crowd of players with promising futures, Blake was tabbed by the Union and most other teams as the only can’t-miss prospect.

“I think collectively, and if you talk to all of the teams here, there was one guy that everybody looks at and says, he’s got a bright future,” Vartughian said. “I think the fact that you see so many trades happening in the first round makes you realize there’s not real, clear-cut guys. There’s guys that some teams like, but there’s not guys that everybody likes. And he was the guy for us that we look at and go, ‘We want him.’ He has a tremendous upside. I can’t emphasize that enough. So for us to be able to move up to get him, that was important.”

Vartughian already has a direction in mind for Blake’s tutelage. The raw tools are there, he says, so it’s just a matter of polishing them and bringing them up to a pro level.

“He’s an incredible athlete, but he’s still raw,” Vartughian said. “The things that he needs to work on are hopefully things that our natural environment will provide him. He’s an incredible shot-stopper. He’s one of the best shot-stoppers that’s come across in a long time. ... If you watched him, you can’t look at him and think that he doesn’t have a bright future ahead of him.”

In many ways, the forecast for Blake mirrors the one the Union set out for Zac MacMath, who is eight months younger than the Jamaican who will serve as his understudy. MacMath was plucked with the No. 5 pick in the 2011 draft, studied for a year under Faryd Mondragon, then ascended to the No. 1 role in 2012. He took major steps forward in 2013, finishing third in the league in clean sheets with 12 and fifth in saves with 101.

The Union hierarchy is adamant that MacMath is the starter and Blake is merely a way to fill the vacant backup role that also could be a way to shore up the future. Given the Union’s ability Thursday to recoup the undisclosed sum of allocation money sent to D.C. to get Blake and the fact that Blake is a member of Generation Adidas, which bases the club’s salary commitment to the player on performance benchmarks, it’s a choice that comes at a low cost.

Vartughian and company are now turning their attention to creating an environment that is beneficial for Blake, MacMath and the team at large, fostering a competition they hope can help both continue to grow.

“If you think about it, we took Zac in a similar spot at this point,” Vartughian said. “They’re different goalkeepers, different backgrounds. They play the position differently. You look at where Zac was three years ago and you look at where he finished this year, Zac quietly had a very good year. And we’re really happy with Zac’s development. Zac is our goalkeeper. But ultimately, every position on the field, you need competition. …

“I think Zac was in (Blake’s) shoes a couple of years ago, and I think that they’ll be able to share a field and be able to talk about some of those experiences. Every keeper matures differently.”